Pros

Cons

Limited on-ear controls.

Bottom Line

The Jaybird Vista true wireless earphones deliver powerful audio performance in a waterproof, gym-friendly build with EQ you can adjust to taste.

31 Jul 2019

Earlier this year, Jaybird scored solid marks with its $179.99 Run XT true wireless earphones. The company's new wire-free Vista earphones debut at the same price, and deliver similarly powerful bass depth and crisp highs with customizable EQ. Also like the Run XT (and all Jaybird earphones), they feature an exercise-friendly, waterproof build. Aside from slightly better battery life, there really isn't much of a difference between the two pairs, but the Vista are replacing the Run XT, so we're giving them the same high score, though there are lots of strong options in this price range.

Design

Available in black, with black eartips and a matte finish (blue and gray versions are expected later this year), the earphones have a somewhat boxy build that is nevertheless both lightweight and very secure in the ear. They uses a full-sleeve eartip, meaning instead of separate fins and tips, the pairs are all one piece, with fins protruding. Three pairs are included, varying in size for both the fins and the tips.

The earphones are IPX7 waterproof. This means they can withstand being submerged in up to one meter of water, and can definitely handle heavy rain, splashes, and being rinsed off in the sink after a sweaty workout. Jaybird claims the overall build for the Vista is stronger and more sweat- and impact-resistant than the Run XT, but with identical IPX7 ratings, we'll have to take its word. Regardless, we have no complaints in this department.

Internally, Jaybird employs 6mm milled drivers. The outer panel for each earpiece has a single button. It needs to be pressed firmly to activate, and this means either pressing the earpiece into your ear, which is uncomfortable, or using multiple fingers to stabilize the earpiece while pressing the button. The various button functions can be customized in the Jaybird App. Out of the box, the controls are mirrored on each ear, except for power, which is controlled by the left ear only. A single press controls playback or call management, a double press skips forward a track or rejects an incoming call, and that's it. There's no track backward function or volume control, though you can swap volume controls for power controls in the app. Either way, you're giving something up.

The black matte plastic charging case is more compact than the one that comes with the Run XT, and weighs just 0.2 ounces, making it easy to bring along on runs. It has a sporty, shoelace-style lanyard, and a USB-C port for the included charging cable. Above the port, there's a status LED, and internally, the case is fluorescent yellow, with magnetic cradles for the two earpieces.

One pleasant aspect of the pairing process is that it all happens in the case—you press a button on the interior of the case while the earphones are docked, and pair this way. This eliminates the often tedious process of pairing that can occur when one earpiece is ready and the other isn't.

Jaybird estimates the case to have only 10 extra hours of battery life, while the earphones themselves are supposed to get close to six hours per charge (by comparison, the Run XT have just four hours of battery life and get an additional eight from the case). Your results will vary based on your volume levels. These estimates put the Vista somewhere in the middle of the pack for true wireless battery life.

The Jaybird App for Android and iOS offers firmware updates, the ability to customize controls and turn off voice prompts, and most usefully, a user-adjustable EQ with presets you can save, name, and even describe. The ability to tweak the bass or highs is helpful, and adds value to the relatively high price.

Performance

To provide a sense of the Vista's baseline sound signature, we tested without the app's EQ engaged. But if you want to add more bass depth or cut it, you can tweak that and the rest of the frequency range easily.

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the earphones deliver powerful bass depth, even with the EQ flat. At top, unwise listening levels, the bass is strong and doesn't distort. At more moderate levels, the lows are still quite pumped, but decently matched by sculpting in the highs.

Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Vista's general sound signature. The drums on this track get an ideal level of bass push—nothing too boosted, but there's a pleasant roundness and fullness to the lows here. Callahan's baritone vocals also receive some added bass depth, while the acoustic guitar strums are bright and crisp—the tape hiss is a little boosted, too. This is not a terribly accurate sound signature, but it's relatively balanced, with a lean toward the bass-forward end of the spectrum.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence to retain its punchy edge, but the loop also sounds a little beefed up in the lows, as well. The vinyl crackle and hiss that is usually relegated to background status is pushed forward in the mix, and the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with serious depth, even in flat mode. If you want some gonzo bass, the app's EQ can bring it. The vocals on this track are delivered crisply and clearly, with only the slightest hint of added sibilance.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, get some added bass presence, pushing the lower register instrumentation forward in the mix. The higher register brass, strings, and vocals still have a bright, commanding presence as well, so while it's not a sound signature for purists, it is nicely balanced.

The mic offers average intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we could understand every word we recorded, but the overall quality was typical of true wireless mics, with plenty of audio artifacts making the audio crackly and fuzzy. You should be able to use the Vista for calls and be understood, but mic intelligibility is not a selling point here.

Conclusions

For $180, Jaybird's Vista earphones deliver powerful audio in a waterproof build, with a useful app that lets you tune the sound to your liking. We'd like to see even longer battery life, but other than that there is very little to complain about here. In the sub-$200 true wireless realm, however, you have several good options. The $190 Jabra Elite Active 65t and the $170 JBL UA True Wireless Flash are priced within $10 of the Vista, and both are excellent sports-focused options, while the $170 RHA TrueConnect earphones are less for athletes, but offer stronger sound quality. And for less, we like what the Samsung Galaxy Buds bring to the table for $130.